Variations on a Proposal
by Amelia Elizabeth
Summary: A series of little bits each containing a variation on a proposal that we all wished would have happened. Each one a little different, but the end result is always the same: Kathryn and Chakotay get married.
1. Chapter 1 - Too Busy

A series of little bits each containing a variation on a proposal that we all wished would have happened. A special shout out to Lia Harkness' lovely "Of the Night" for inspiring the format. As always, I don't own them because if I did, things would have ended up just like this, or like the next chapter or the one after that.

Chapter 1: Too Busy to Notice

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"Hey," Chakotay nudged her shoulder as they sat together on the couch. She had been diligently reading all evening, her head resting on his shoulder and a cup of coffee nearby.

"Hmmm?" Kathryn didn't look up from her work.

"I was thinking…" he began, hoping to draw her attention away from whatever she was reading.

"Never a good sign…" she muttered, still focused on the padd in her hands.

"Would you marry me?"

"Yes," she smiled, but still didn't look up.

"Good then its settled."

Kathryn looked up, her face slightly alarmed but a bright smile showing through. "Now wait just a minute…"

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	2. Chapter 2 - Coffee

Chapter 2: Coffee

A/N: This is especially for one of my reviewers who wanted to see something a little more romantic. I hope you enjoy! And please review!

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She put down the padd she was reading and held her head in her hands. It felt like she had been awake for hours, and judging from the time on the chronometer, that wasn't too far from the truth. She looked around for the nearest cup of coffee but realized that she had recycled it hours ago. Slowly, she rose to her feet and made her way over to the replicator.

She wanted to be in bed. Or rather, she wanted someone else to be at home, in bed so she could curl up along side him and sleep. But Chakotay was on a survey mission and she just couldn't sleep without him. And even if she could, she had a mountain of work to get through before morning.

"Coffee, black," she murmured.

The replicator beeped and a swirl of light appeared as an object began to materialize. It didn't really look like a cup. As noise stopped, she looked at what she had just been presented with. It was a small black box. She looked at it and sighed.

"Coffee, black." This time she was more forceful. Small black boxes didn't contain caffeine and at this hour, Kathryn really didn't want to know why it had appeared in the first place.

This time she knew immediately that the replicator was not creating her a steaming mug of coffee. Instead, a bouquet of red roses lay in front of her. Kathryn picked them up and sniffed them appreciatively.

Now she was curious. It wasn't every day that when her replicator broke it actually produced nice smelling things. She tried again.

"Coffee, black…" she asked hesitantly.

Almost instantly, a small note card appeared with the words "turn around" written on them. So she did as she was told, only to find the one person she wanted to see most in the entire universe standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame, his smile from ear to ear.

"Chakotay…" she gasped as he walked into the room. "How did you…?" She looked at the roses and the box and suddenly she knew. With a smile on his face, he knelt down in front of her, gently taking the box from her hands and opening it.

"Kathryn Janeway," he said, his voice calm and clear. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

"I was hoping you would say that," he said as he scooped her up in his arms.

The reports could wait.

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	3. Chapter 3 - New Year's Eve

Chapter 3 – New Year's Eve

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They had been dancing in each other's arms all night, his hand resting softly on the small of her back, her head leaning against his shoulder. He looked down at the woman in his arms and smiled contently. He had never been this happy in his entire life and he could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt the same way too.

They had talked about marriage before, about what it would mean for them and their crew. Eventually, they had reached a sort of understanding: they would get married. It was just a matter of when. He was hers in every sense of the word and she was his, since the day they came back from New Earth. It was simple. It was basic and pure. And it was something he knew was very, very special.

They had even talked about a ring. At first he worried that that might be a little untraditional, but Kathryn Janeway was a very particular woman. He wanted to make sure that she loved it. They spent one evening curled up on their couch, looking at pictures as she gave her thoughts on each and everyone and he dutifully took notes. She gave him a slight smile when he told her he couldn't really tell her when or where the proposal would take place. Neither of them put much stock in ceremony.

So here they were, tonight, wrapped in the arms of the one they loved more than anything in the universe and he decided it was time.

"Kathryn," he said as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Hmmm?" she looked up at him questioningly.

"Would you do me the honor of being my partner in life for the rest of our days?"

Instantly she smiled. She looked around the room at the rest of her crew, happily celebrating another year alive and well, albeit in the Delta Quadrant. She looked back up at him, finally seeing the ring in his hand, and nodded.

"Yes." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He grinned. He grinned like a fool and kissed her back.

Neither of them noticed when the crowd around them broke into cheers and applause.

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A/N: Happy New Year everyone!


	4. Chapter 4 - New Earth

Chapter 4 – New Earth

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"Kathryn, you're being ridiculous," he sighed as he looked up from the table. She was pacing again. She had been pacing all day ever since the thought had occurred to her. He wasn't sure why it mattered to her so much. All he knew was that if she kept this up, he was going to have to build a bigger house.

At the sound of her name, she turned, her long hair falling over her shoulders. He liked her hair like that. She never wore it like that back on Voyager but now she seemed to love to let it fall free in soft waves.

Slowly, she sat down at the table with him, resting her hands in her lap and frowning. "It isn't ridiculous."

"It really is."

"Tell me this doesn't bother you at all," she glared at him, but he could handle it.

"It doesn't bother me at all," he said evenly, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Why not?" she jumped up and began pacing. "This is serious. It took me three months of being stranded on this planet with you to finally admit it and another six months to understand that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life being married to you and now…"

"… and now that you are ready?" he prompted.

"We can't get married if there is no one who can marry us!"

"That is quite a problem," he smiled.

"You really aren't taking this seriously."

"Because it isn't that big an issue to me." He closed the book he had been trying to read. "Kathryn, do you love me?"

She gave him a look. "I just said I did."

"Kathryn…."

"Yes I do." He took her hands in his.

"And do you promise to love me as long as you live?"

"Yes," she said softly, her smile brightening. "And do you love me?"

"Yes I do," he said, giving her hands a gentle squeeze.

"And do you promise to love me as long as you live?"

"I do."

"Well, okay then," her voice trembled.

"See? That wasn't so hard…" he started but stopped as he felt her lips touch his.

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	5. Chapter 5 - Not As Planned

Chapter 5 – Not as planned

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He had been planning this day for months. It had taken careful saving of his replicator rations, always done cautiously so as not to arouse suspicion, several slightly backhanded deals for fresh fruits and vegetables, a failed attempt to get an entire evening alone on the holodeck, and one awkward conversation with a certain security chief who suspected that something was amiss. But Chakotay was beginning to have second thoughts.

Not about what he was planning. The only thought he had on that was that he should have done this alone time ago. Kathryn Janeway was the love of his life and he was looking forward to spending every day he had left together with her. He loved the way she smiled, the gentle hand she would place on his chest, or the laugh she rewarded him with when he succeeded in making her burden lighter or at least more amusing. No, he was certain about that.

He just wasn't sure that tonight was going to go exactly as he had planned. Kathryn hadn't been feeling well; no, that was an understatement. Kathryn had been physically ill that morning and he was beginning to worry that perhaps he should wait until she was feeling a little better. He was hopeful when she hungrily ate her lunch and then some of his, but her pallor returned later that afternoon. He watched her cautiously but she just shrugged and told him to stop worrying. He almost blurted out that it wasn't really her that he was worrying about.

She was off the bridge for the rest of the day after that. By the time his shift ended, he headed back to their quarters determined to follow through with his original plan. Tonight he was going to propose to Kathryn Janeway.

He had everything set out and ready to go, dinner on the table, a small black box in his pocket, candles and a little cider. When she finally got home, they ate dinner comfortably, chatting about work as Kathryn steadily refused any cider. Chakotay was so caught up in his plan that he barely noticed her fidgeting anxiously in her chair.

Finally, he decided it was time. He reached across the table to hold her hand. "Kathryn?"

She looked up at him, distracted. "Hmmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out at the exact same time.

"What?" he asked shocked.

"Will I what?" she gasped.

"You first," he said.

"No, I think traditionally yours comes first," she offered with a bit of a smile.

"Kathryn, are you serious?"

She nodded. "I just found out this afternoon and I would have taken you with me but I didn't think it was anything but when I saw that you had all this planned I just…" she was rambling. "I'm sorry, I've ruined this whole thing."

"Of course not," he assured her, grinning and taking both of his hands in hers. "Kathryn, we're going to have a baby!"

She nodded, smiling sheepishly. "In about eight months."

"I love you, you know that right?" He leaned over to give her a gentle kiss. He couldn't stop smiling.

"I love you too." She studied his face closely. "Now, I believe you were asking me a very important question."

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	6. Chapter 6 - I'll Wait

Chapter 6 – I'll wait

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"Is that really an ancient legend?"

"No," he admitted. "But that made it easier to say." She smiled, despite the tears in her eyes as he reached out to hold her hand.

"Chakotay…" her voice trembled when she finally spoke again.

"Don't worry," he shook his head gently.

"I'm not ready… I can't do this, what you want… I'm not…" her voice caught in her throat and the tears began to spill freely down her cheeks.

"I know." He slowly let go of her hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small wooden box. Kathryn's curiosity had gotten the better of her and she turned her head to the side to watch him.

"Kathryn, I know that you aren't ready for what I'm asking. And I want you to know that that is just fine with me," he said as he took her hand again. "I want you to have this."

She picked up the box and examined it closely. It was beautiful and inside was a simple silver ring. She looked up at him, almost angry.

"What is this?"

"It's a wedding ring." He quickly held up his hand to stop her. "Kathryn, I'm not proposing. Not yet anyway. I want you to have this because I want you to know that I'll wait for you. When you are ready, I'll be here. Just give it back to me and I'll know."

"Chakotay," she swallowed hard. "What if I make you wait a long, long time? I can't do that to you."

"Yes, you can," he smiled. "I love you and I'll wait for you no matter how long it takes. I don't care if we are still here or back on Voyager or Earth, old or young, I want to marry you. And I'll wait."

"Do you promise?"

"Kathryn…" he pushed the box closed in her hands. "Of course I promise."

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	7. Chapter 7 - Ready

Chapter 7

A/N: I loved the last one so much that I knew right away that I needed to write a companion for it.

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"Kathryn…." he started. But the look in her eyes was so genuine that he had to force himself to continue. "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Yes," she answered simply. "I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" he couldn't quite believe it. He had been waiting, ever since that night on New Earth he had been waiting and hoping that there would eventually come a time when she was ready to return the love that he felt for her. At times, he wondered if that day would ever come. But he knew her and he knew that she did care for him deeply. He had been confident then that she would give the box back to him someday. He just didn't expect it to be so soon.

They had only been back on Voyager for a little more than a year when he had found her in his quarters one evening. She hadn't tried to surprise him with dinner; she had done that once before and it resulted in a damage control team, a security team and an engineering team all reporting to his quarters when the alarms began to sound. He had worried then that the whole experience might have scared her off. But apparently not.

He had found her sitting at his table, her hands fiddling with that small wooden box he remembered so well. His breath had caught in his throat when he first saw it, but then he began to notice how Kathryn kept fiddling with it. He should have known something was up the minute that word popped into his brain. The bombshell this time was a silent one. She stood up and handed him the box, a small smile on her face.

"I've been ready since the moment you first gave this to me," she said, a few tears forming in her eyes but her smile strong. "I just didn't know it then."

"I…" he stopped. He could barely find his words. "Kathryn…" he tried again. "You'll marry me?"

"Yes," she repeated, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you for waiting."

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	8. Chapter 8 - Self-Destruct

Chapter 8 - Self-Destruct

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"Initiate self-destruct sequence."

Her words sounded cold and distant in his head, his mind having tuned out the clanging alarms and the flashing lights almost as soon as they started. He knew how to focus through the sights and sounds that told him that his ship was almost certainly going to die but this was different. They had tested this situation before, over and over in drills until everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to do. Only in all of those scenarios, the woman who sat next to him on the bridge always followed him into the escape pod. Now she stood resolute outside the bay doors.

"Chakotay," she began, forcing him to come back to reality. "You've got five minutes to get off this ship. I suggest you start moving." Gone was the spark of life, the sense of humor that permeated every situation, and in its place was a dark sense of futility.

"You know I can't leave without you." His own voice trembled as he spoke. "Please come with me," he reached his hand out to her put she shook her head.

"Captain always goes down with the ship."

"Kathryn, you can't do this. You can't abandon your crew, not now, now when they need you the most," he pleaded.

"They'll be okay," she said quietly but he knew she was thinking more. She was thinking that all of this was her fault and that her punishment should be to die along with her ship. The Delta Quadrant, the incessant attacks, the final decision that the ship was doomed and everyone had to evacuate, she thought of that as her burden to bear and try as he might, she would not let it go. He saw the determination in her face even as the red flashing klaxons cast their shadows across the bulkheads. It was empty now as the countdown reached three minutes.

"I need you." His words surprised himself.

"I have faith in you," she said with a half smile. "Get them to the nearest habitable planet and settle down. Give them a chance to have the life I could never give them."

"Kathryn!"

A nearby console exploded, showering sparks everywhere as emergency power began to fail.

"Please," he begged. "I can't be without you." She turned away but he held her shoulders. "Kathryn, I love you. I can't live without you. I want to marry you." She looked up at him with a faint smile on her lips. "Kathryn, the ship is about to explode. Our world is coming to an end. Don't make me leave you."

"They'll never forgive me," she whispered.

"They already have," he promised, kissing her on the forehead. He held out his hand to her one last time and she took it, following him into the escape pod.

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	9. Chapter 9 - One Last Look

Chapter 9 – One Last Look

A/N: that last chapter got me thinking about what would happen if she hadn't agreed to leave the ship.

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She looked out the viewscreen, blinking away the tears that threatened to cloud her vision. She hadn't expected it to be like this. She had thought through this scenario so many times in her head but her mind never let her think past the part where he left. He was out there on one of the shuttles, racing away as the ship began to give in to the inevitable. He was gone and she was alone.

A comm line crackled to life as she switched it on. Suddenly his face filled the viewscreen and she felt her breathe catch in her throat.

"Are they all off?" he asked. She nodded. Every last shuttle and escape pod was full of survivors desperate to flee the dying ship. Kathryn could see officers onboard the shuttle hurrying in and out of the frame as they pushed the small ship for all she was worth. It had been the last to leave, at his insistence.

"Chakotay," she said, her voice hoarse with emotion, "what are you doing?"

He smiled. "I had to see your face one more time." He shook his head, recognizing the futility of it all.

_Collision course engaged _the last remaining functioning monitor flashed at her as she forced her self to look away from his face. She wanted that to be the last thing she saw.

"I love you," she whispered, holding her hand up to the screen.

"I know," he said returning the gesture. "I love you too."

"I wanted to marry you."

"I know," he sighed. "Don't be afraid, Kathryn."

She smiled as the world around her went dark.

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	10. Chapter 10 - Finally Home

Chapter 10 – Finally Home

A/N: this is the last one of these little stories. In my mind, this was how "Endgame" really ended. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them – Amelia

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Kathryn felt her breath catch in her throat. They did it. They actually did it. The sight on the view screen was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life; a blue and green sphere in the background and a fleet of ships coming towards them that all looked so much like her own.

She felt a hand slip into her hers and she looked up to see her first officer smiling brightly.

"We did it," she whispered, afraid that the sound of her voice would make the whole scene disappear.

"You did it," he replied with more confidence than she felt. "You got us home."

She heard the sound of an incoming transmission followed by Harry's voice. "We're being hailed."

"On screen," she said, mustering as much courage as she possibly could.

And there they were. Starfleet uniforms all of them, staring back at her with a look of amazement and confusion that surely must have been reflected on her own face. In the background she saw the red klaxons still flashing as every officer stood frozen on the spot. In an instant, Kathryn remembered why.

"Sorry to surprise you," she said with a smile and was rewarded by an equally bright one on Owen Paris's face. He looked so much older, she thought to herself as she saw lines near his eyes deepen with emotion. He looked like he was holding his breath. "Next time we'll call ahead."

"Welcome back," Admiral Paris finally said, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's good to be here," she said, looking around at her crew. They were all smiling.

"How did you…?" Owen began.

"It'll all be in my report, sir." Kathryn frowned as she heard herself say that. How could she possibly explain what had happened over the past 24 hours? How could she possibly write down every detail and nuance of the tremendous set of circumstances, which had all come together in a remarkable way to finally bring them home? She barely understood it herself. Never in a million years had she imagined that it would end up like this. They had made it home and in so much less time than anyone could have possibly predicted. And they had done it on their own. None of the new technologies that Starfleet scientists had been working on ever since Voyager's survival had finally been confirmed had played a hand in this magnificent event. This had been all her crew, their ingenuity, their strength, their determination and their teamwork forged over seven long years. She shouldn't have been surprised that they had managed to do it but she was. They were home. And suddenly there was so much more work for her to do.

"I look forward to it," the Admiral chuckled. She watched him nod to one of the communications officers on board his ship and the transmission cut out, replaced by the Starfleet seal for the briefest of moments before the most beautiful sight in all four quadrants, _home_, reappeared on the viewscreen.

The bridge erupted into cheers and applause. Suddenly everyone was hugging and laughing and shaking hands at the marvel of it all. Her officers came up to her to take her hand but she pulled them each into a hug, whispering how proud of them she was and how grateful she was for their help.

And then he was by her side again. She felt all the strength in her body leave her as the physical exhaustion of the past day finally took hold. She fell into his arms as the tears began to flow down her cheeks. He picked her up and began spinning her around.

"Kathryn, you did it," he laughed as she kissed him. "You got us home."

"I know," she smiled in spite of the tears. "And I know there was something I promised you a long time ago."

"I know," he said as he let her go. She heard herself gasp as she watched him get down on one knee. "Kathryn Janeway, will you marry me?"

For the second time that day the bridge erupted into cheers and applause as the First Officer finally pulled his Captain in for a kiss.

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End file.
